Estes Park Opinion

It's time for our voice's to be heard

Posted:
04/29/2012 03:14:00 PM MDT

Dear Editor:

W e continue to lose great people at the Park R3 School district .Tax payers must stand up and let there voice be heard.

Over the last month, the school district has announced some personal moves that continually baffle the parents and students. First they let go of the Asst. Principle Susan Flores. Why? We are told that it is for budget reasons. As a parent I would hate to loss such a valuable member of the school district. I have seen Mrs. Flores continually put the kids first working with them to get and keep their grades up and working with the teachers to improve teachers performance. She attends most, if not all, of the school functions. Most importantly, she has the respect and love of the students.

They also have let go the high school AD and coach Steve Urban. Why? Budget reasons they say. I believe in both cases it is personality conflicts. They gave him the head football coaching job two years ago and a year ago gave him the AD job, now they are letting him go. My son has had two head football coaches, two head basketball coaches, and three head baseball coaches. Where is the continuity?

In both cases they live in town pay taxes and have kids in the school district. Can they say that about all of their district employees? The answer is no. Are these changes really based on economics? We must as tax payers tell the powers to be that this is not ok!

Brad Klein

Estes Park

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Doug Klink and Mark Igel for the fire board

Dear Editor:

We strongly support Doug Klink and Mark Igel for election to the Estes Valley Fire Board. Both Doug and Mark are active volunteer firefighters, and have been for many years. Their hands-on experience with equipment, procedures, and training will be a critical addition to this board as the Fire District plans for future needs.

Who better to represent our citizens than two individuals who literally put their lives on the line to help protect our property and our residents? To vote, you must go in person at the Dannels Firehouse, on May 8.

Vote for Doug Klink and Mark Igel.

Sincerely,

Ron and Linda Norris

Estes Park

November vote will be no ordinary vote

Dear Editor:

November's election will be no ordinary election. Indeed it will be a time to choose between survival of our Republic or "transformation" to another form of government.

Until now we have always known that a unique document was watching and protecting us. But over the course of the last four years, that superintending document has been systematically ignored until now a mere shell remains. I speak of the United States Constitution, the supreme law of the land, that has kept guard over us and kept us as a sovereign nation, distinct from all others, ruled by our own laws, for over two centuries.

Our present president spoke of "transformation" even before winning the vote of the American people. He has faithfully and carefully carried out his purpose, in fact so well has he done this that the "transformation" has barely been noted by the national news media. What are these fundamental changes that he has accomplished?

Bills that our representatives and senators vote on are now initiated by the White House, rather than being initiated by the legislative branch. Was not the power to legislate for ourselves one of the principle reasons for which we fought a war? The first sentence of the first article of our constitution vests all legislative powers in a congress. True, congress can still vote "yea" or "nay" on a bill, but the origin of that bill is not from the legislature. In addition, the President has used coercive tactics to make sure that his bill passes.

The Constitution states that the purpose of the executive branch is not to initiate but to "take care that the Laws be faithfully executed", Article III, Section 3. The abandonment of the President of this duty has recently surfaced. While Congress was out of session, our president issued a command (executive order, not mentioned in the Constitution) that the Department of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) no longer to deport illegal aliens. In issuing this order he has replaced the executive's duty with his own arbitrary willful rule, which is, of course, how King George III operated.

When the colonies united and separated from Great Britain, they became "Free and Independent States." Only until those free and independent states ratified the United States Constitution, could the United States become a nation. A year or more ago one of these states, which had been overrun by illegal aliens, took it upon itself to enforce and execute those laws that had been passed by the United States Congress. The president took offense at this bold action and filed suit against that state. Later, because he did not receive satisfaction from the courts, he appealed to an alternate authority -- the Human Rights Commission of the United Nations.

This action brings to the forefront three violations of the president. 1.) the abandonment of duty to enforce the ICE laws passed by congress. 2.) The necessity of a state to act unilaterally to protect itself since the federal government didn't, 3.) The ignoring of the Supreme Law of our Land by appealing to the U.N. Human Rights Commission, a body over which our citizens have no authority, and which operates under a system foreign to the United States. Thus our president violated the sovereignty of the United States.

Indeed this election is a clear vote for either "transformation" or for survival of the Republic of the United States of America.

Sylvia Vrabec

Estes Park

Fire election is important to the community

Dear Editor:

My name is Bud Duryea and I am an incumbent candidate for the board of directors of the Estes Valley Fire Protection District.

The purpose of this letter is to encourage your readers to vote in this important election on May 8, 2012, to demonstrate my commitment and contribution to the community and to endorse fellow members Jack Rumley and Bob Cheney as part of an effective leadership team that has guided the District since inception.

Qualifications for re-election are:

Commitment to public safety programs for the Estes Valley and my respect for those who put themselves in harm's way for us.

Experience on the inaugural board of the District and leadership service as Treasurer for the District and the Pension Fund Board of Trustees.

Established professional accounting, finance and auditing functions through negotiated service agreements. The District has received clean opinions for its first two audits.

Implemented an annual investment program for future capital purchases, mitigating external financing needs or increases in the property tax millage for the foreseeable future.

From an organizational perspective, Jack, Bob and I along with the other board members, have been successful in accomplishing the following:

Managed the Districts timely transition from the Town's management with no loss in efficiency;

Implemented the first fire code for the Estes Valley;

Implemented a Length of Service Award Program to financially demonstrate to our fire fighters their value to the community and enhance our "recruiting and retention" program;

Implemented a shift incentive program to compensate the fire fighters who commit to manning the fire station in shifts in order to reduce incident response times;

This board has repeatedly demonstrated its integrity. For example, state law provides that each member is "entitled" to a $100 stipend per meeting for up to 16 meetings a year. The total cost to the District (and the taxpayers) is approximately $8000/year. Each year we have declined this compensation and reinvested the money into the District's annual operating budget.

Serving the citizens and visitors in the Estes Valley community is a responsibility I take seriously. I believe that it is in the best interest of the Estes Valley community to retain Jack, Bob and myself as board members of the District.

Bud Duryea

Estes Park

Estes Park is a generous community

Dear Editor:

We live in a beautiful community where the generosity towards children's needs is overwhelming. More importantly for our preschool, people consider us worthy of their support. We thank all the following people for enriching the children's experiences at preschool and for supporting our fundraising efforts.

Community Church of the Rockies has adopted us as their local mission for the last 10 years. Their melodrama presented the preschool with a substantial check for tuition assistance. The Egg and I restaurant once again helped us celebrate Dr. Seuss's Birthday by serving 43 preschoolers green eggs and ham. Kurtis Kelly impersonated Abraham Lincoln and told our preschoolers great stories. Lynette Johnson and her quintet gave a "Peter and the Wolf" performance. This was the first time many of our students had heard these instruments up close. The Family Medical Clinic is sponsoring for the second year our Fit Family Five Mile Run and Walk event with special track and field activities for 3-9 year olds held this May 19.

Our nonprofit preschool keeps the tuition affordable and offers tuition assistance with the help of our board members who do the fundraising. These community volunteers are the backbone of our organization.

Sarah Pita -- President and Grant Writer

Blake Nicholson

Kathy Asche

Kristen Hill

Tonya Francis

Berniece and Bob Peters

Kyle Patterson

Tim Phillips

Jodi Rasmussen

Angie Bryrant

Jeanice Prohs

We are in our tenth year and our mission continues to be to help children develop a curiosity about their environment and become lifelong learners. For more information about our preschool, go to our website: http://llevpreschool.com/.